Oil Leak Location (?)

-AINOKEA-

-AINOKEA-

Hooked
Hey all. So I’m having a bit of trouble trying to find what I think are 2 separate oil leaks. I’m pretty sure one of them is rear main seal. The other one seems to be coming from either the top or back of the transmission. Nearly positive it’s engine oil and not ATF but can’t really see where it’s coming from without dropping the trans. I’m gonna have to do that anyway for the RMS but I’d like to have all parts on hand for when I rip into this thing. Little back story: noticed some oil sometime last week but was only there immediately after driving. Was not dripping static. Engine oil was about a quart low. Topped it off, cleaned everything up, did some driving over the weekend and now it’s dripping static in the driveway. Any help would be greatly appreciated.


Inspection ports - pretty sure this small amount of oil is the RMS. Around these are pretty dry.
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Exhausted crossover looking up from driver side.
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I think these are transmission cooler lines on the driver side. Coated in oil pretty good.

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Aft of the transmission near transfer case. That crossmember was soaked as well.
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Passenger side of transmission.
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As mentioned, a lot of it seems to be coming from above the trans. But hard to tell. Either way the majority of it is near the back of the transmission. Any ideas?
 
Disciple Off Road said:
With that much oil and mess, oil cooler for sure. It sits right on top of the motor on a 3.6L.

Take a look below the oil filter with a flashlight and see if you can see a lake of oil. I’m betting that’s your issue. Good news is, it’s very common and not a bad fix.

Aftermarket brands like Dorman use aluminum housings instead of plastic.
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This^

Mine looked just like yours and it was the oil cooler.
 
Never thought I’d be happy to see an oil leak but I’m really glad I asked about it here before tearing into shit I didn’t need to. Lol. Thanks guys! Down the oil cooler rabbit hole I go.
 
-AINOKEA- said:
Never thought I’d be happy to see an oil leak but I’m really glad I asked about it here before tearing into shit I didn’t need to. Lol. Thanks guys! Down the oil cooler rabbit hole I go.
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It's likely the oil cooler from all the pics, you can also take an extra-long white zip tie and run it down the side of the oil filler neck and check for oil.

Take a look at my post:

www.wayalife.com

What was done to your rig this week?

Lol, yeah, didn’t have it up there for very long… so unstable. Pack light my brother. Some cool set ups also for the backside of wranglers. No homo on that one.
www.wayalife.com www.wayalife.com
 
Disciple Off Road said:
With that much oil and mess, oil cooler for sure. It sits right on top of the motor on a 3.6L.

Take a look below the oil filter with a flashlight and see if you can see a lake of oil. I’m betting that’s your issue. Good news is, it’s very common and not a bad fix.

Aftermarket brands like Dorman use aluminum housings instead of plastic.
Click to expand...
What’s your thoughts on this change? Apparently mopar “redesigned” a new one with a divider between the oil and coolant ports. Dorman still uses a single gasket, but is aluminum. What’s the lesser evil here?

IMG_9483.jpeg
 
-AINOKEA- said:
What’s your thoughts on this change? Apparently mopar “redesigned” a new one with a divider between the oil and coolant ports. Dorman still uses a single gasket, but is aluminum. What’s the lesser evil here?

View attachment 425206
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If the mopar is still plastic then get the dorman. That coolant separator is a non issues if the product doesn’t crack.
 
-AINOKEA- said:
What’s your thoughts on this change? Apparently mopar “redesigned” a new one with a divider between the oil and coolant ports. Dorman still uses a single gasket, but is aluminum. What’s the lesser evil here?

View attachment 425206
Click to expand...
good in theory except that's not where the issue is, it's in the plastic housing that is obviously not designed for long term use in such a hot cycle environment (based on the number of failures for this one component since the introduction of the 3.6 design).

As mentioned, Dorman.
 
Disciple Off Road said:
Don't think its a huge concern at all. We use the Dorman replacements all the time with no issue. I'd still prefer the aluminum over the plastic as it will crack again.

I just got one in so took a look. It's tech "one seal" but yes, it is only divided by the seal itself. I wouldn't be concerned about it though.

View attachment 425208
View attachment 425207
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Agh that makes more sense. There’s still 2 seal walls between them. I thought it was just one thicker portion. Interesting. Going with Dorman. Thank you 🙏🏽
 
@-AINOKEA-

If you have a relative or good buddy that works at an auto parts store that is willing to use their discount for you, you can get the Dorman 926-959
for around $200.
 
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